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MR. WINTER said he had no doubt, from his local experience, that the school should be started in Berbera. Sir Arthur Lawrance had somewhat altered his views and was now in favour of starting a good, wholesome, country school. Mr. Winter had been in contact with Moslem prejudice for thirty years and had found it better policy to swim with the stream rather than against it. However desirous the Somali were to maintain old Somali customs, they would always look to Berbera as a centre of culture and to Arabic as the only means of progress. The only chance of obtaining a sound basis of education in Somaliland was to start a school in Berbera according to Mohammedan ideas and await developments. Meanwhile, they should be allowed to have in mind the institution of up-country schools, say within the next four years, and during the interval the Superintendent of Education could experiment in the matter of the language.
An illuminating Memorandum had been written by Mr. Scott of the Sudan which explained the difficulties of reducing Somali to writing. From what he had seen and from discussions with Sir Arthur Lawrance and others, there was no native desire to reduce Somali to writing, but the idea had been introduced by district officers and others. The root of the matter lay in the religious question. A Somali grammar was being written and he would like to see an experiment made to reduce Somali to Arabic writing. There was no reason why it should not be done. Somali was an indigenous language, fairly full, and fuller than Swahili. It bore no relation to other African languages, and contained a fair number of Arabic terms. Somali would tend to disappear as trade entered the country. The way of stagnation was to try and promote the languages which did not give the people any appreciable benefit with regard to the outside world.
MR. BURNEY, in quoting Mr. Ellison's view for introducing the study and writing of Somali into a school, considered that if no literature existed in Somali, it was useless to introduce study of the language in order to create some.
MR. SCOTT said that that argument was used against the reducing to writing of most African languages. Some of the Somali language was to be found in various parts of Africa and it composed part of the Kipsigis vocabulary, for instance.
MR. MAYHEW remarked that even if it were not possible to develop station schools in the near future for financial reasons, as funds became available teachers and the right kind of courses would be required. Preparation for these would take a long time and, preventing the opening of station schools, it was to be hoped that progress would be made in the training of teachers in the Sudan or elsewhere.
MR. SCOTT remarked that if the school were started a man like Mr. Ellison in charge in the course of the next five years would probably find a man capable of developing matters in the way Mr. Mayhew had in mind.
MR. MAYHEW stated that two Somali students were being trained in the Sudan. They would return with the right ideas about station schools and these ideas would quickly spread.
The Committee gave general approval to the proposals.
11. African Education Reports Sub-Committee. (A.CE.C. 38/38). Comments on Education Reports, Gold Coast, 1936-37, Nyasaland, 1937, Basutoland, 1936, and on the Report of the Proceedings of the Conference of Directors of Education, Bechuanaland, Swaziland and Basutoland, held at Pretoria, 1938. (A.C.E.C. 41/38): Notes submitted by Mr. Bull.
SIR DONALD CAMERON enumerated the main points in the Sub-Committee's reports. With reference to Basutoland he said that Mr. Bull seemed keenly aware of the needs of the Protectorate in regard to education and the policy he was endeavouring to follow was a live and sound one. The Sub-Committee had been much interested to find, in the case of the Primary schools, that they had been unable to undertake agricul- tural work as no land was available. As far as possible, however, this want would be made up by the seed and demonstration grounds which the Agricultural Department were endeavouring to establish. The Sub-Committee were impressed by the high standard which was aimed at for the training of teachers. They were also impressed by the fact that although highly qualified Basutoland teachers were able to obtain higher wages in the Union they returned to Basutoland and entered Government service. The Sub-Committee wished to support the plan for the inclusion of classes for motor mechanics at the technical school, if it should be put forward.
Referring to the Conference of Directors of Education, Bechuanaland, Swaziland and Basutoland, Pretoria, Sir Donald Cameron noted the valuable contribution which
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this Conference had made at collaboration between the three Protectorates. The very interesting fact was brought up by Mr. Bull that the establishment of a High school at Maseru, although designed to meet the requirements of Basutoland in the first instance, would benefit education in all three territories, and Bechuanaland and Swaziland were willing to co-operate, although there appeared to be no urgency in the latter territory.
(Mr. Dawe took the Chair at this stage of the proceedings.)
The Sub-Committee had informed Mr. Bull that if a proposal for the appointment of a woman inspector primarily for Basutoland but with some responsibility for the other Territories were submitted it would receive the support of the Committee; he was also told of what was being done elsewhere for women's and girls' education.
DR. ESDAILE considered that the Committee should emphasize the need for a woman inspector.
The Committee agreed that the need for the woman inspector should be emphasized, particularly in view of the rapid progress in girls' education made during the last three
years.
The Reports were then approved, in the light of the foregoing discussion.
12. Tanganyika Territory: Annual Education Department Report, 1936.- Comments from the Governor's Deputy in reply to the African Reports Sub-Committee's comments (A.C.E.C. 12C/38) and a Memorandum by Mr. R. J. Mason entitled Education of Rural Communities: Suggestion for the training of teachers" had been circulated for consideration (A.C.E.C. 42/38).
SIR DONALD CAMERON referred to the training of teachers (paragraph 3 of A.C.E.C. 12C/38 and paragraph (2) of A.C.E.C. 42/38). The Sub-Committee had suggested that the Director of Education might have more than one grade of teacher instead of only one as at present. The matter had been discussed at great length with the Director of Education who would have understood the Committee's reference. Unfortunately, the Acting-Director had misunderstood the comments. The Tanganyika Government in the first instance had established a two-year course for elementary teachers. After a certain number of years the length of the course was raised to three. The Committee had then suggested increasing the inadequate supply of teachers by adding to the existing training course a simpler and shorter course for a lower grade. But the Government had now raised the length of the course to four years. In Nigeria young men were trained for two years and were then well-fitted for teaching in the Bush schools, and afterwards were capable of returning to the fuller course of training.
MR. MAYHEW said Mr. Mason's scheme was an interesting development of the Advisory Committee's Memorandum on the Education of Rural Communities. He could not envisage all teachers being trained on the lines of this scheme but it might be possible for some to receive such a training. But it was important to provide also a shorter and simpler course. This should be made clear to the Governor.
DR. ESDAILE said the education of girls was too academic and the assistance of a woman superintendent of education to draw it back to something more useful was required. Domestic and agricultural instruction were at present excluded.
MR. MAYHEW said that arrangements were being made for filling the new post of Woman Inspector of Schools.
The Committee recommended that the Secretary of State should bring the points mentioned in the foregoing discussion to the notice of the Tanganyika Government.
13. Education in the Gambia. MR. ALLEN made the following statement with reference to the Annual Education Report, 1987, of the Gambia.
While he appreciated the conditions existing in the Gambia, he was distressed upon his arrival in that country to find education in such a bad state largely due to lack of public funds and to the extreme poverty of the whole population. It was stated in the Report that one of his first duties would be to tighten up the existing organization and bring all schools as far as possible into line with the Regulations of the Education Ordinance of 1935. The previous Education Reports on the Gambia gave, by inference, the impression that the situation was better than it really was. Standard VII was referred to, but this Standard was equivalent only to Standard IV in Nigeria. The following were a few points which had occupied his attention during the last six months.
Attendance at the schools was never more than 60 per cent. of the school-going population. Sixty per cent of the children's parents paid school fees but the remaining 40 per cent made no attempt to do so. A large number of children continually changed from one school to another, attending very irregularly, and their parents paid no fees.
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